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Thursday, April 7, 2011

The Daily Dress: Marisa Tomei in Charles James

Wow, a Daily Dress appropriate for both Satin Week and our Charles James discussion today! I'll admit that I've actually been looking for an opportunity to discuss this gown here.

When I first saw Marisa Tomei on TV at the Oscars red carpet saying she was wearing a Charles James, I thought I must have misheard. Shouldn't that be in a museum somewhere? I thought. After all, these are the kinds of garments stored by the Met's Costume Institute in the exact right temperature and handled only with white cotton gloves. And, as mentioned in this morning's post, James's body of work was relatively small, so his pieces are rare and therefore even more prized.

But no, Marisa Tomei purchased this at the couture vintage shop Lily et Cie and wore it to the Oscars, the most glamorous of red carpet events.

The choice wasn't a slam-dunk. In fact, the look was widely criticized (and even declared one of the night's worst) and many felt the gown was not tailored properly to Tomei's figure.

The Parsons blog questioned the idea of wearing a museum-quality piece, asking "Sacrament or Sacrilege?" I think it's an interesting question, but unfortunately they ended on a rather bitchy note:

Tomei is both beautiful and stylish, but not even today’s runway models can pull off a James. At a reported 5 ft 4 to 5 ft 6 inches in height, with a bubbly smile and minimal looking make up on her face it was difficult, nay impossible, for her to channel the elegance of a Dovima or a Dorian Lee that is needed to make a Charles James truly flourish.

I will agree that I was disappointed in the look, though I don't think Tomei's looks are to blame. I actually think perhaps James's work is better suited as an art piece. His gowns are so artfully constructed that it somehow seems more fitting to admire them on a faceless mannequin. But I also think this particular gown wasn't one of this masterpieces, to be honest. It lacks the intricate details of his others, and in fact even appears a bit dull in some photographs. What do you think?

I agree that the dress may not have been a good choice, but mainly because it was made for a different figure, and doesn't seem to fit as well as it should. But I don't think it's sarcrilige, dresses are made to be worn on a live person, not to gather dust in a museum:)

Honestly I'm not a fan of the dress on either her or the mannequin. I might be the lack of proper undergarments for the dress, but I don't like the look of the nipped in waist followed by fitting through the hips, and then the huge asymmetric poof of a skirt. The waist just seems all wrong for the silhouette. Even on the mannequin, my eyes go straight to the waist, rather than enjoying what should be a slim, smooth line on the top contrasting with the volume on the bottom. The sweetheart neckline also seems wrong to me. From the back, it looks gorgeous, but the front view leaves a bit to be desired, IMO.

I love both the dress, and how it looks on and fits her. I admire women who follow the "if you feel great in it wear it" rule of fashion, which I am betting is the case considering that she chose to wear it on the most watched and photographed red carpet event of the year. I think that she paid a wonderful compliment to Charles James by choosing to wear his creation. Think of how many more people will actually know what they are looking at when they encounter a piece in a museum because of the attention her wearing it generated. ANd Gertie~ I am loving the new feature!

Tomei looks lovely. I don't care for head-to-toe vintage looks and most such looks aren't suited for women today. I'm not crazy about the dress, in particular the pouf.

I think the idea of a dress being celebrated on a mannequin is a bit ridiculous. If it doesn't work on a woman, it doesn't work. A dress may reflect incredible artisanal skill and imagination, but it is not in and of itself a work of art.

I think different foundation garments and better fit in the waist/hips would be a bit better. But I love this dress! Asymmetry is one of my favorite design features. But, I do have to agree, what is going on with hair and make up? She is so beautiful, I feel like her team really dropped the ball and she needed a bold lip and hair that looks styled. I know undone is a look but not when you are wearing an over the top dress! She looks almost not finished.

I think the styling was wrong. She needed different makeup and accessories. I'm just glad when anyone out there goes, "Yep, it's 'Fifties' and I'm wearing it." God knows there were worse choices on Oscar night.

Honestly? The tone of the Parson's blog sort of reminds me of the tone of Vogue magazine which we were discussing earlier today. So, she's not good enough for the dress because she's too short/plain/happy? What?

"It took a generous dose of chic and a healthy amount of forethought for Marisa Tomei to wear Charles James" - or, maybe not. Maybe she just fell in love with the dress, bought it, and then wore it to one of the only events worthy of a big ball gown.

Charles James is not a designer that one can just throw on with an insouciance shoulder shrug and a “What? This old thing?” attitude. - I didn't get that attitude out of the quote, "I've been waiting to wear it." More the opposite - what is an appropriate place to wear such an important dress? Uh, the Oscars?

And, at the same time, while I won't try to deny that he was important, or that the dress has a history that might make it worthy of a museum... at the same time, I'm reminded of the old Eddie Izzard joke about America, we've restored this building to how it looked over FIFTY YEARS AGO." (Point being: it's not really THAT long ago.)

Again, maybe my reaction is just against that sort of snobbish, Vogue-esque tone... but I actually don't think it's a bad look on her, I think her figure is beautiful, and I think if she hadn't spilled the beans about who designed it (impossible, I know), she wouldn't have gotten half so much flack. (And personally, I'm glad she didn't go too vintage with the styling. I don't think the dress itself screams vintage so much as to warrant it. Again, if you didn't know it was a James...)

I'm not a big fan of her styling at all. I don't think it needs to be retro to make the dress work, but it's just a bit too casual for my taste. Even if you want to go for a more natural look, you are still wearing an evening gown!

I think the dress would have looked better had she been wearing the vintage undergarments for which it was designed. This dress isn't exactly one of his most exciting creations (although I'm sure she paid a pretty penny for it) so why not wear it and enjoy it? My goodness, life is much too short not to take your Charles James (should you be lucky enough to own one) out for a spin! It's not like she wore it horseback riding or something.

I think Marisa Tomei looks fine in the dress, and am happy not to see her in retro drag, as it were, but I can imagine how modern this piece could've looked on Gwyneth Paltrow wearing similar makeup and a simple low ponytail. On the other hand, if Angelina Jolie had worn this we would have gotten Adams Family comments for sure.

As for the dress itself, I really like the bodice seaming, especially how they add interest to the satin. This is really the kind of dress I'd love to see on January Jones.

I think the very plain hair and makeup made the ill fit of the dress more obvious, but she still looked beautiful. A corset beneath the gown and a full french twist would have benefited the outfit immensely

I don't think it is as "off" as the article would imply but I agree that different undergarments might have streamlined the fit a bit. Marisa is lovely and looks good in just about anything. I think also that many who comment on the red carpet looks are just plain snarky and looking for something to criticize to justify their jobs.

I think there's two kinds of fashion. Fashion for the sake of showing off daring design and construction, and fashion for showing off the people who are wearing the garment. Charles James is the former.

I don't see what's wrong with the fit on her specifically, I think it's just the fit is not made for a real woman, but a mannequin.

I don't feel that the dress does her any favours - not in the abdomen or in the chest. It doesn't really fit her well. And I agree, it's not one of his best dresses. Mind you, she looked very red carpet and it was not a sleazy outfit (which is the worst thing, IMO). So if she felt good, good for her.

I think it was a good choice, although I wish her makeup had been a bit more colorful, since she appeared a bit washed out and, to me, that made her look older/tired. And maybe she needed different foundation garments, since bra styles have changed since then, as have figures.

I'm not sure why she caught so much flak - it's not as though museum-worthy dresses haven't been worn at the Oscars. And I'm not talking about the Valentino that Julia Roberts borrowed to wear when she got the Oscar for Erin Brockovitch. That dress was not even 20 years old. In 1983 Jamie Lee Curtis wore a beaded gown to the Oscars that had been worn by Marlene Dietrich in the 1942 film "The Lady Is Willing". If that's not a museum-worthy piece, I don't know what is.Here's the dress, as worn by Dietrich:http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2272546330044785100yLjHOy

^Woah, Jen! That dress is amazing! But I'm thinking your hair/face/figure would have to be perfect to pull off a high neck gown with long dolman sleeves! I bet with the beading when it's in motion it was just fabulous.

I can't believes this dress was panned although it seems a little big in the hips.the seaming itself is to dye for and she may not have wanted to destroy the integrity of the gown by altering it. Yes I agree that Vogue can be bitchy sometimes as well.goes with the territory! But I do think she should have worn some red lipstick!

The fit in the abdomen/hips is not great, but other than that it's a stunning dress and I agree with the other commenters who have said that dresses are made to be worn - and if you can't wear this sort of thing to the Oscars then when can you?!

I also think that her colouring suits the navy perfectly, and to me, the natural make-up screams class rather than a lack of effort. She's letting her own beauty do the talking, and I wish that more women out there would do that. Brave, yes, but brazen no.

I've come to the conclusion that I don't really 'get' Charles James. I'm sure the construction is amazing and all that, but I don't much like any of these dresses. To my eye, they're over the top and fussy; there's too much of everything... Gimme Dior and Balenciaga anyday!

Gertie - are you aware that your RSS feed settings have changed this week so that we can no longer read the full posts or see any photos in our feed readers? Could you please switch this batch so that we can read the full posts instead of excerpts?

I do not subscribe to excerpt feeds as I don't have enough time to click through for every single post in my list of hunfdreds, and it'd be such a shame to unsubscribe to yours as you provide such great posts and inspiration!

I actually really liked this dress choice. Marisa Tomei is one of those actresses that wears what she likes and don't always play it safe, I love that about her! and I don't think it's sarcrilige, a dress can still be appreciated as a work of art when it's worn.

melissa: The reader feed is back to the old way now. To give you a short (and mysterious) explanation, I'm entering a phase of my blogging life where my "stats" are going to count more toward my livelihood, and I had to figure out a way to have reader subscribers included in my numbers. Luckily there's a solution that will make everyone happy.